In truth, Miyasame Ayaka had played a significant role in assisting Xue Qianjun and his army of tens of thousands of soldiers in occupying the Eastern Islands, and had been vital to the progress they had made as of late.
“Young Master, I did well, right?”
Miyasame Ayaka smiled. Although Wang Chong was now a King, even more illustrious than a marquis, Miyasame Ayaka still called him ‘Young Master’.
“Not bad! I’ve troubled you this time. How did you handle things in the palace? You didn’t leave behind any evidence, right?”
Wang Chong’s smile faded as he began to talk business.
“Young Master, be at ease. Although my ninjutsu is not as impressive as Young Master’s techniques, it is a secret art that has been passed down through the Eastern Islands for hundreds of years, and whether it was entering the palace or leaving the palace, I was extremely cautious and meticulous! No trace was left whatsoever!”
As Miyasame Ayaka spoke, her mind recalled the scene from before.
“The palace is constantly changing and difficult to predict, and there’s danger at every step. The Fifth Prince is humane and filial, and though prone to infatuation, he is not a fickle person. He strictly cleaves to the principles of sovereign and subject, father and son, and will never overstep them. In the Imperial Palace, the only person with the motive and drive for such a scheme is the First Prince!”
When the news that the Fifth Prince had been arrested arrived at the King of Foreign Lands Residence, everyone had gathered together for a meeting, and the mood had been oppressive. But Wang Chong had a suspect for the schemer from the very start.
But even so, they still knew nothing about the situation in the palace, so there was no means of discussing any countermeasures.
“The First Prince has been scheming for a long time. For him to suddenly act now, he must be planning to push the Fifth Prince into a dead end. The Imperial Clan Court is no ordinary place. If my guess is correct, no matter what happens, the First Prince will leak the news to the Imperial Court, upon which the Fifth Prince’s reputation will be destroyed and he will lose any right to the throne. We don’t have much time. Miyasame Ayaka, follow me to the palace and be ready for my order at any moment. We will respond according to the situation!”
The situation had been urgent and there was no time to waste. Not even Miyasame Ayaka had known what Wang Chong was thinking.
But not long after they had entered the palace, Miyasame Ayaka had received the next order from Wang Chong, and everything truly did develop as Wang Chong had predicted.
In this world, there’s probably no one who can defeat Young Master!
As she gazed at the eighteen-year-old face, her eyes glazed over for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure, and her respect for this youth only increased.
To Miyasame Ayaka, if there was anyone in the world who could defeat Wang Chong, it was her!
But these thoughts resided in her mind for only the briefest of moments.
Wang Chong had no idea what Miyasame Ayaka was thinking.
“Miyasame Ayaka, now that this matter is over, you should disappear for a while and wait to return to the residence,” Wang Chong said.
“Yes, Young Master.”
After a few moments of silence, Wang Chong took out a letter and handed it over. “In addition, Xu Keyi, investigate this letter and report back to me in three days.”
Xu Keyi scanned the letter, and he could see from the elegant handwriting that it was written by a woman. However, he did not ask any questions and merely bowed.
“This subordinate will go!”
Three days later, Xu Keyi returned with his report. His investigation had turned up a great deal of previously unknown information.
Upon receiving Xu Keyi’s report, Wang Chong couldn’t help but deeply sigh, falling into a long silence.
The letter Wang Chong had given to Xu Keyi was one that he had found in Shuhua Palace. Jade Consort Xiao had lived a simple and thrifty life, her food and clothing expenses much smaller than those of the other consorts and concubines. The bookshelves in her room only contained plain Buddhist texts. The only exception was this letter hidden under her copy of the ‘Diamond Sutra’.
After reading through the letter, Wang Chong had developed some conjectures. Xu Keyi’s investigation had verified them.
It turned out that Jade Consort Xiao’s austere life had not been without reason. She had a younger brother outside the palace whose inborn illness kept him in bed year-round. Moreover, several years ago, Jade Consort Xiao’s parents both passed away, leaving her younger brother in an even worse situation.
Jade Consort Xiao sent almost all her salary, besides that needed for the daily expenses of Shuhua Palace, to her younger brother. This younger brother was constantly on her mind, and she was always worried about his condition.
“Haaah…”
Wang Chong put down the letter and sighed.
Everyone had a story that they weren’t willing to talk about, and in this harem incident, the one neglected the most had been Jade Consort Xiao.
“Xu Keyi, take care of this matter. Make sure that Jade Consort Xiao’s younger brother is well taken care of!”
The palace had many rules that made things difficult for even someone like Jade Consort Xiao, but Wang Chong did not have the same restraints, and he could handle many matters as easily as raising a finger.
Taking care of Jade Consort Xiao’s crippled younger brother was the only thing Wang Chong could do. As for the rest…
“Be at ease! A day will come when he will pay for his conduct!”
Wang Chong’s eyes flashed for a moment, but he quickly calmed back down.
Once he had finished settling everything, he began to cultivate again.
Bang!
A few moments later, there was a massive boom. Now that this last mental knot had been untied, Wang Chong was able to easily break through that threshold.
A beam of light soared into the air, and Wang Chong finally ascended into the eleventh level of the Trayastrimsa Heaven.
With this qualitative evolution, the air several feet above Wang Chong began to ripple, and at the center of these ripples, one could see another world bursting with dazzling, golden, and blazing energy that was hotter than the sun.
As Wang Chong established a connection with this higher dimension, he finally stepped into that realm that most martial artists could scarcely imagine.
The Subtle realm!
In the past, Wang Chong had only been able to reach the Subtle realm through the power of the Origin Immortal Sword, but now he had ascended to that unfathomable realm both mentally and physically.
But it was still not over. Now that he had opened the gate to this higher dimension, he once more began to erupt with power.
Swish!
Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Chong sent his soul out of his body and into that mysterious world.
Wang Chong had learned from the Origin Immortal Lord that each martial artist would have a single opportunity to obtain an enormous boost of power when they first opened the gate to this realm. If it were used well, one could receive a simply unbelievable boost in potential!
All was quiet in the capital, and within this quiet, Wang Chong was getting stronger and stronger!
Chapter 1626 - The Key Figure, The Minor Eunuch!
Chapter 1626: The Key Figure, The Minor Eunuch!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
With the drowning mishap of Jade Consort Xiao and the release of the Fifth Prince from prison, the harem incident gradually calmed back down, and the court did not cause much of a stir. But the effects of the incident persisted.
With Wang Chong’s return and his participation in several high-profile operations, the King of Foreign Lands had become the eye of the storm engulfing the empire.
Every day, innumerable scouts observed the King of Foreign Lands Residence from the shadows. Ther
e were scouts from other countries, from other parts of the Great Tang, from King Qi, the Confucian Sect, and people in the palace. Old Eagle and his men spent every day in a battle of wits and courage with them.
But in comparison to the spying and counterspying taking place on the other side of the walls, the King of Foreign Lands Residence was an oasis of calm.
Even though the other countries and the court dreaded the King of Foreign Lands and were watching his every move, Wang Chong was wholly unaffected.
Within the King of Foreign Lands Residence, golden energy from a higher dimension was rapidly revolving around Wang Chong. This blazing hot energy seemed capable of even melting down steel.
Ever since he had broken into the eleventh layer of the Origin Immortal Art and into the Subtle realm, Wang Chong had experienced a massive boost in strength. Every cell in his body was now bursting with the dense energy of the Subtle realm.
And if one looked carefully, one would realize that Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy had also gotten stronger.
Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy had gotten five times stronger after absorbing the Nightmare Beast’s power, and after crossing the threshold of the Subtle realm, his Psychic Energy was seven times stronger than that, and there was still room to improve.
“Who is it?!”
Suddenly, Wang Chong opened his eyes, which flashed with frighteningly cold light.
Swish!
Wang Chong suddenly brought his index and middle fingers together like a sword and sent a vicious bolt of Sword Qi slicing at the northwest corner of the hall.
This swift strike was suffused with an extremely lethal sword intent, leaving a somber aura in its wake. A pot by the window seemed to experience a winter chill, and the peony within it rapidly wilted, its once-lush leaves dropping off one by one.
Art of God and Demon Obliteration!
Wang Chong was once more using this supreme art, but on an entirely new level of power.
Even the fabric of space seemed to shatter like glass as the Sword Qi passed, leaving tiny cracks in the air.
Fwoosh!
Sword Qi pierced through the Stellar Energy, and a scream came from the corner. A figure with a panicked expression staggered out and began to flee.
“Assassins! After them!”
It was like someone had dropped a boulder into the calm lake of the King of Foreign Lands Residence, and countless Golden Guards began to chase after the assassin.
“No need! Let him go!”
Wang Chong called back the guards.
So many people were watching him now that he couldn’t be bothered to chase after them one by one. The King of Foreign Lands Residence quickly calmed back down.
A few moments later, the familiar voice of Xu Keyi resounded through the hall as he came in. “Your Highness, you summoned me?”
“How is the investigation proceeding?”
Wang Chong slowly began to end his cultivation as he looked toward Xu Keyi.
Xu Keyi lowered his head and said, “Your Highness, Eunuch Li and Sir Yang have already sent news from the palace. There are three hundred and fifty-seven eunuchs in the palace who are called ‘Little Li’. It will take some time to investigate them all, but at this time, none of them match with the minor eunuch Your Highness spoke of.”
“Oh?”
Wang Chong couldn’t help but frown at these words.
It had been some time since the end of the harem incident, but for Wang Chong, this was only the beginning.
Ever since the Fifth Prince had been released, Wang Chong had been pondering another problem, or more accurately, a person: the supreme ruler of the Great Tang Empire, His Majesty the Sage Emperor.
Throughout the harem incident, from the Fifth Prince’s imprisonment to the death of Jade Consort Xiao, the Sage Emperor had done nothing at all. This was far too abnormal.
From that moment, Wang Chong had developed an extremely vexing question that he couldn’t cast aside: what was the Sage Emperor’s current condition?
The Sage Emperor was the pillar holding up the empire, and his well-being was linked to the fate of the empire as a whole. Any information regarding the Sage Emperor was certain to send great waves through the surrounding countries.
But even Consort Taizhen or Fifth Prince Li Heng could not get close to the Sage Emperor’s residence.
The best of the imperial household’s guards had ringed the residence day and night, and no one could get within three thousand feet of it, much less see the Sage Emperor. And these Sage Emperor Guards only obeyed the Sage Emperor. Not even Consort Taizhen had any power over them.
Wang Chong had entered the palace several times, but he couldn’t even get a meeting with Eunuch Gao.
Thus, there was only one option left for Wang Chong!
In his memories, he recalled that when the Sage Emperor died, Eunuch Gao was so overcome with grief that he committed suicide. At the time of his death, the Central Plains was in chaos, but there was a minor eunuch who appeared to carry his coffin and to even perform the rites of a son, wearing mourning clothes and handling his funeral.
At the time, Wang Chong had been stunned, as everyone knew that Eunuch Gao had no children and had not adopted anyone. But he later heard that this eunuch was a minor eunuch that Eunuch Gao would occasionally run into. Eunuch Gao saw that he was clever and honest, so he had the eunuch remain at his side and taught him how to read and write.
Not many people in the palace knew about this, and if the minor eunuch hadn’t appeared after Eunuch Gao’s death to carry his coffin, probably no one would have known.
If Wang Chong could find this person, there was an extremely high chance that he could get in touch with Eunuch Gao and ask about the Sage Emperor’s condition.
Wang Chong had believed that the power of Li Jingzhong and Yang Zhao would be enough to find that minor eunuch, but it now appeared that it would be far more difficult than he had anticipated.
“Your Highness, we have too little information. It will be very difficult to find that man if this is all we have to work with,” Xu Keyi awkwardly said.
Wang Chong had provided far too little information, merely the nickname ‘Little Li’ and a rather inconspicuous sesame-seed-sized mole on his lower lip. Probably more than a hundred people in the palace could fit this description.
And even if they investigated all of them, there was no guarantee that they would find the person Wang Chong wanted.
“I see.”
Wang Chong’s brow deeply furrowed as he lapsed into deep thought.
“Reporting!”
Suddenly, a rush of footsteps came from outside, and a guard soon got down on one knee in front of Wang Chong.
“Your Highness, the palace has sent word. Last night, apparently a minor eunuch fled the palace. The City Guard is already searching the city. In addition… it seems that the order came straight from the Eastern Palace!”
Buzz!
Wang Chong and Xu Keyi both paled.
A minor eunuch running was not anything worth being astonished about, but if the Eastern Palace had given an order, then clearly matters were not as simple as they seemed. Besides that, Wang Chong had been in the middle of searching for a eunuch, and as it turned out…
Wang Chong and Xu Keyi realized something and shared a glance.
Whoosh!
A few moments later, carrier pigeons took off from the King of Foreign Lands Residence. Li Jingzhong proved to be remarkably efficacious, and the reply from the Imperial Palace soon arrived. The eunuch who had fled had the surname Li, and he was also called Little Li.
More importantly, those familiar with him said that he had a small black mole on the corner of his lip. This eunuch had a habit of scratching at the mole, which had caused those around him to notice it.
Xu Keyi and the others were energized by this news. In merely half a day, countless scouts and spies were dispatched throughout the capital.
“Your Highness, it’s up ahead!”
; As night fell, in a simple and crude alley located in the southern part of the city, a spy of the King of Foreign Lands Residence guided the way. Wang Chong’s intelligence network was now extremely developed by this point, and not even the City Guard could compare to it.
It had only taken four hours to receive, verify, and investigate the news, and Wang Chong’s men had already managed to pick out the needle from the haystack, finding the minor eunuch’s location from amongst the hundreds of thousands of people living in the capital.
It was truly an astonishing feat.
“Reporting! Young Master, we’ve noticed the City Guard. They’re going house by house and are coming this way!”
Several steps away, Miyasame Ayaka appeared atop a moss-covered wall, wearing her black assassin clothes and two sabers at her waist.
“Reporting!” another voice soon called out. “Your Highness, we’ve discovered the First Prince’s men to the northwest. They seem to have obtained some information and are headed this way!”
Another man dressed in black assassin clothes was kneeling on the ground, his body exuding an air of experience and agility. This was a formidable assassin Wang Chong had recruited from the martial arts world called ‘Ghost Shadow’. Wang Chong had saved him during the northwest expedition, earning his loyalty.
The martial arts world had many ways of gathering information. In this aspect, Ghost Shadow was not one bit lacking compared to Miyasame Ayaka!
“It came very quickly!”
Wang Chong’s expression chilled, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Xu Keyi, Cheng Sanyuan, take some men and go with Miyasame Ayaka to handle this. I don’t care what methods you use, but I wish to not be disturbed by anyone.”
“Yes!” his subordinates replied in unison.
Chapter 1627 - Shock! News on Eunuch Gao!
Chapter 1627: Shock! News on Eunuch Gao!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Thwishthwishthwish!
Following Wang Chong’s order, his subordinates swiftly took flight. After returning from the northwest, Wang Chong now had many martial artists under his command. When it came to strength, few in the capital could compare to them.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 1003